Culture

Gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy shares naked birthday skiing photo

Oct 02 2018
Written by Ella Braidwood

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – JUNE 02: Gus Kenworthy speaks at the Life Ball 2018 international press conference at Albertina on June 2, 2018 in Vienna, Austria. The Life Ball, an annual charity event raising funds for HIV & AIDS projects, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year at Vienna’s City Hall. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Gus Kenworthy has posed a nude photo of himself with his skis on a snowy mountainside to celebrate his 27th birthday.

The silver medal-winning freestyle skier uploaded the thirst-trapping image of himself, wearing only skiing boots, onto Instagram on Monday (October 1).

“27-years-ago I came out of my mum wearing this exact same outfit,” he wrote.

Kenworthy shared the raunchy shot to celebrate his birthday. (guskenworthy/Instagram)

“Strong queens make strong queens. Happy (my) birthday, Ma! #27 .”

The picture, which appears to be from an ESPN shoot from last year, has been “liked” more than 160,000 times.

Fans have responded with glee—and birthday wishes—to the photo on Instagram.

One person wrote: “Skis included? No wonder you’re a prodigy!”

Another joked: “With ski boots on??! Your poor mother! Haha happy birthday :).”

Earlier this year, the sportsman and his boyfriend Matthew Wilkas revealed they had rescued a puppy from a South Korean meat farm, where Kenworthy was competing in the Winter Olympics for the first time since he came out in 2015.

However, just months later, the 26-year-old US athlete told his followers that their dog, called Beemo, had passed away.

Gus Kenworthy and Matthew Wilkas with Beemo, who passed away earlier this year. (Instagram/guskenworthy)

In August, Kenworthy introduced fans to the couple’s new dog, Birdie, who was also rescued from South Korea.

“The day Matt and I visited the horrifying dog meat farm in South Korea we witnessed a mother dog giving birth to a litter of pups,” he wrote.

Kenworthy with his new puppy Birdie.(guskenworthy/instagram)

“The people at @hsiglobal told us that had they not been there filming my visit nobody would’ve seen the pups immediately and they likely would’ve died in the brutal cold.

“Luckily though I saw them and they were rushed inside and saved. A few weeks later when all 90 of the dogs on that farm (including Beemo) were flown to North America that mother and her newborn litter were the only ones that stayed behind because the pups were too young to travel.

“After Beemo passed away I was feeling completely empty and I reached back out to the Humane Society International to find out what happened to that litter,” he continued.

“I found out that they were still in Korea and I began getting photo and video updates on them as I waited for another farm closure and an opportunity for them to be brought to the States.

“That finally happened and four days ago I picked this little girl up in DC.

“She’s a five-month-old Jindo/ Lab mix and we named her Birdie (because birds were one of Beemo’s favorite things in the world),” explained Kenworthy.

Kenworthy with Adam Rippon at the 2018 Olympic closing ceremony (Instagram/guskenworthy)

However, he added: “Nothing in the world could ever replace Beemo or the love that we felt and still feel for her but Birdie has already stolen a new place in our hearts and we’re excited to be dog dads again.

“A HUGE thank you goes out to @hsiglobal for bringing our new baby home and for all they do for animals in need around the world (follow them and support their cause).

“Also an immense amount of gratitude goes to @awlaarlington for taking care of Birdie in DC until I could fly there to pick her up!”